Keep Me Wild
by winterskiesautumnleaves
Summary: Fifth Year at Hogwarts is the year of change. It is the term within which students notice the changes in the friends around them and in their selves. Lily Potter II begins to notice one of her male friends in particular, but she's determined to keep her friends together, and vows to keep her feelings at bay. However, she finds herself drawn to a pretty girl, as well.
1. Chapter 1

The snow was falling with a precise silence. It cloaked the frosted hills, and settled on the frozen surface of the Black Lake, forming sculptural piles that glimmered in the grey sunlight. The small white flakes danced through the air like daft sprites, clinging and whipping and burning cheeks red.

"It's so cold. Why do we bother?"

Lily Potter shivers against this frigid wind. She curls further into her winter cloaks with a huff; they're a sharp, soft grey, clasped around her neck with a single, silver lily. She's thrown the hood over her head, revealing the faux, white fur within as it spilled out over the hood's lining. Her terra-cotta skin was blown scarlet along her cheekbones and nose. Snow sparkled where it clung to her dark eyelashes, contrasting to the hickory brown of her eyes.

Hugo Weasley scoffs, a large puff of air leaving his mouth as a misty phantom. His sepia hued cheeks are a stained pink, and his freckles stand out darkly against it. His eyes whisk about, searching all at once exasperatedly as well as excitedly. He burrows into a large, black trenchcoat of a muggle persuasion, and his neck is shielded with a black and yellow knit scarf.

"Because if we didn't, they'd freeze to death." Hugo snorts, running a boxy hand through his dark curls. Lily grumbles something in way of agreement and they continue on their stomping way.

They're just past Hagrid's cabin when they hear their charges. Voices lilt and dance along the winter wind and the crackling of a fire promises a small interlude of warmth before Lily and Hugo dragged their friends back to the safe caverns of the castle.

Lily is so very not amused by this outing; as she'd much rather stay in her common room where it was warm. Rose had seen her sneaking out for another, and would be waiting up for her for no other reason than to scold her for going out past curfew with her equally ill-mannered brother. However, as much as Lily hated the cold, she loved adventure and her friends far more.

She and Hugo enter the Forbidden Forest with identical grins of fond exasperation lifting their cheeks.

"Oi, wait a moment." Lily whispers to Hugo, grabbing her cousin and steering him behind a tree. She peeked through the foliage to see three boys laughing around a fire, sharing a bottle of Fire Whiskey.

The oldest boy there was Lorcan Scamander, and by far the most serious. While at some moments he'd burst into childish guffaws, he mostly ranted exuberantly, sternly, about some topic or another, and then just watched, amused, as the two other boys made absolute fools of themselves. He was a dark haired boy, with a scruffy jaw and handsome features. He was tall, quite so, and ironically enough reminded Lily of a raven.

His fraternal twin, Lysander, was comical as Lorcan was serious. He was an impish boy, with androgynous features and a strong, seeker build. He was always smiling; his dark eyes twinkled, and his voice was thick with the infamous Scamander Spanish lilt. He was a ladies' man, with his beautiful cocoa hair and brilliant white teeth. Currently, he was jumping around, sprouting some kind of nonsense that sent the other two into loud laughter.

The last boy, the one that caused a hot blush to rise to Lily's cheeks as she watched, was Frank Longbottom the Second. He was a tall, tall, tall boy, at six' five, with large hands and large ears and a charming smile. He was often mistaken for Hagrid's son, rather than Professor Longbottom's, and it had been a running joke for as long as Lily could remember. Frank's hair curled under his ears, black and shiny, and his brown eyes crinkled when he smiled. He smelled like cinnamon and roses, and he treated Lily as though she was something precious. At the moment, he was jumping around with Lysander, laughing joyously and no doubt teasing the twins, as he did with everyone, when the opportunity presented itself. His favorite victim, to her secret relief, remained to be Lily.

"Are we going to continue pining, or are we going to gather the idiots before the lot of us lose our toes?" Hugo hisses, his blue eyes squinted. Lily raises her hands in surrender.

"We won't lose our bloody toes, Hugo, calm down." Lily snaps back, before turning on her boot's heel and marching straight into the middle of the boy's 'Top Secret Meeting'.

The boy's hushed quickly when Lily stopped just shy of the fire. She pulled of her hood and her ebony waves pooled to her shoulders. She glared at each boy in turn, turning last to Frank.

"Are you three all quite done with this nonsense, or are you going to freeze your bollocks off because you all lost your collective sodding minds?" Lily barked, throwing out her hands. Lysander laughed and jumped forward for a hug.

"Come on, Lils, we've just been having a spot of fun." He cooed, attempting to pull her against his, Merlin help him, shirtless torso. She pinched his nipple with a pout, and he jumped back with an affronted huff. "Aye, on the rag are you?"

"Oi, Lysander." Lorcan rumbled; his voice deep and commanding. Lysander just rolled his eyes. "She's right; we should've gone in an hour ago."

"She's right? Little Flower hasn't got a say! Tonight's boys' night, after all." Frank says with a wink in Lily's direction, and Lily crosses her arms and sends him a proper glare.

"You are all so stupid. Get inside the damn castle before Lily has a damn conniption. You lot only rope these nights together because you want to rile Lil's up, you buffoons." Hugo groans, waving emphatically in the direction of the castle. Lily nods her agreement and points. Damn pig-headed boys were going the death of her, honestly.

"We should've never trusted you, Weasley, you rat!" Frank yells teasingly, barreling forward to throw the slim, lanky Hugo over his gargantuan shoulder. Hugo yelps and bangs on his back, but it was futile endevour.

"Cavemen are what you are." Lily gripes, following after them with put upon strides to keep up as they began the trek to the castle. "If I hadn't come and gotten you, you'd be ice lollies by now."

"Oh yes, the true heroine of Hogwarts, Lily Potter Part Two. Saved us in the nick of time, did you?" Lysander chuckled, throwing a muscled arm around her shoulders. Much to her ire, the familiarity of it had her arm wrapping around his waist. She leaned into his side as they walked, and watched as Lorcan and Frank teased Hugo a few yards ahead.

"I already have three brothers. How'd I end up with three more?" Lily sighed, looking up at Lysander, whom, for once, looked at her with soft eyes.

"I haven't a clue, Little Flower. I haven't a clue."


	2. Chapter 2

Hi guys! Thanks for reading! I know it's a bit scene-to-scene right now, but that's how I do things in the beginning. It helps set the plot, while also changing things up so nobody is bored right away. It gets smoother as the story builds itself! Thanks for reading, and I hope my OCs aren't too annoying.

Love, Audge

* * *

Fifth year, to Lily Potter, was complete and utter shit.

"What the bloody hell is this?" she exclaimed, hands flying up from a common room desk she'd commandeered for the evening. Lorcan, who'd been reading by the fire, looked up with a ticked brow.

"Let me see." He says, getting up from the high-backed chair in which he was sitting. He tossed his book down onto the plush seat, saving his spot, before lounging over. His hair was particularly disheveled today, and he was wearing his glasses in favor of his contacts. He was a good-looking boy, and Lily vowed for what was probably the billionth time to not let anyone break his heart, as she knew damn well people would try.

Lorcan was very smart; he was what one would call a stereotypical Ravenclaw. Lily was a Ravenclaw, that much was true, but she certainly wasn't housed for her brains. Molly was a Ravenclaw no doubt for her skills in Maths, and Rose, though hot-headed and ill-tempered, had a knack for every subject offered at Hogwarts.

Lily just had no idea why she'd been put here. She couldn't even figure out her Potions homework, and she was a bloody fifth year.

"Oh, see, look, Lil." Lorcan had hairy arms, dark and wiry down that gave him a dangerous air. He pointed with a long and dexterous finger at the step list she was studying. "You put the beetle eyes before the cane root. That renders the potion useless."

Lily huffed angrily, and clenched her tiny fist around her quill. She softened; however, when Lorcan's large hand ran over her ponytail. Lorcan was never one for affection, especially not with Lily for some reason she often fretted over, but when he did give in, it was surprisingly gentle and extraordinarily sweet. "Relax. You'll be fine." He encourages simply, softly, before retreating back to his chair and his book.

"Mm. I'd let him help me with Potions, anytime."

Lily jumped, turning to see that her cousin Molly Weasley had pulled up a chair beside her. Her long, reddish brown hair was down as usual, the bangs swept back by a headband Lily recognized as her own. Her eyes were wide, blue, and warm with mirth behind her golden glasses.

"Calm yourself. These chairs don't need your heavy sweating stain." Lily chuckles, slapping the older girl on the arm. Molly giggled and leaned back, cheeks burning.

"I'm sorry! That man is just too much." She gasps, fanning herself mockingly. "Honestly, I don't know how you handle being around those blokes so often. I would've gone mad by now." The girl shrugs thoughtfully, her black sweater slipping down her shoulder. "But, I _have_ seen Lorcan grow up, though, we all have. I suppose if we just remember the way he looked when he was five it should calm us down."

Lily snorted, recalling the gangly boy with a snotty nose and a missing tooth. "You're right, aren't you?"

"As always." Molly snickers, and Lily hits her again.

* * *

"Hugo, why'd you have to go and tell Little Flower?" Frank groans, falling backwards onto the bed nearest his friend.

The other boy looked at him, unimpressed.

Frank glared and thrashed his long limbs childishly. "Ughh."

"Don't be so dramatic. She was just worried about you." Hugo huffs. He closes his book and turns to face his roommate. "You don't act like this with Ariel. Why do you give Lily such a hard time?"

"Ariel is my girlfriend. She's different." Frank says quietly, hand running through his hair. Hugo sighs and shakes his head.

"I'm telling you, Frankie, Ariel Parkinson is from a bad sort." Hugo told him frankly, looking at his nails and grimacing at the cuticles- they were still a disgusting shade of green from their last Transfiguration class.

Frank rolls his eyes and sits up lazily. "She's not like her mother, Hugo, if that's what you're implying. She's not even a Slytherin. She's a Hufflepuff, like us." The tall boy grumbles, crossing his massive arms.

"Yes, and do you not remember the fit she had first year? Acted as though her very life was over, wearing all that black and brushing her hair all combed over." Hugo reminded Frankie, falling backwards so his head landed on his yellow pillow. He looked back at Frank, who was shaking his head stubbornly.

"She's beautiful now, Hugo. Her hair isn't all dyed black anymore. It's red and blonde. Like a sunset." Frank smiles. Hugo looks away, stomach churning.

Poor Lily.

"Please, keep you gross love out of the dorm, Frankie." Hugo joked, forcing a wide grin on his freckled face. Frank laughs and hits him with his own pillow.

* * *

It was a few days after the Forbidden Forest fiasco, late the night she had taken her Potions test, and Lily was tired. Her eyesight had taken on a purplish hue, and her hand had gone numb from holding her head up. The snow fell slowly, soft and angelic, and Lily watches as the sky slowly grows darker above her. The ceiling of the great hall teased at the cold touch of winter, but the student body of Hogwarts was efficiently warmed by the feast and the bodies of others.

"M'sorry, but do you have a moment?"

Lily's eyes drift down from the charmed heavens, their glittering black dazed from prolonged staring.

The speaker was a tall, biracial girl, with dark lipstick and a marvelous, natural afro. Her eyes twinkled a mischievous caramel, and she was dressed impeccably head to toe, with a simple black skirt, high white socks, and a button down shirt hidden beneath a thick, cozy green jumper. Lily found herself blushing.

"Of course, whatchu need?" Lily stutters, face strangely hot. She rubs her arm under her own, worn Christmas jumper, feeling as though she was trapped beneath the offensively itchy wool.

"Well, see, my Muggle Studies professor, you know, Professor Moor?" the girl began, plopping down onto the Ravenclaw bench, hand jumping about radiantly. "She wants us to find a student with an interesting familial background to do a project with, and I noticed that you're biracial like me-," the girl points a finger at Lily's curled, black hair. "-so I thought it was worth a try. You're a Potter, too, and by lo, everyone knows you're all a bunch of mutts." She finishes with a giggle, obviously meaning no ill-intent.

"What was your name again?" Lily drawls, brushing a wayward lock of hair behind her ear. It falls down stubbornly, but before Lily can put it back, one of the girl's light brown hands sneaks forward, placing the strands in place gently.

"Griselda Finnegan-Thomas. Nice to meet you, Lily."

Lily grins so wide, she doesn't even notice Frank's grand entrance upon Lysander's back.

They're blocked by a halo of dark blonde hair, and a bright smile.


	3. Chapter 3

A fire crackled in a dark, ashy inglenook. It painted the room in red and orange, specked the stone walls in dark, moving shadow.

The smell of burning wood perfumed the dusty chamber, reaching to the corners thick with cobwebs and rising to the low ceilings, dank with moss. In the middle of the chamber, a rug was thrown onto the damp and cragged grey stone. Upon this flat and glamorous throne was a woman. This woman gazed into the fire; pale blue eyes alight with it.

"Atabur?" the woman asks into the seemingly still air. Her voice is high, lilting, like birdsong. Her white-blonde hair falls with the tilting of her head.

A man sleeks from the inky, black shadows of the chamber's threshold. He's a tall, skinny man, with dark skin and dead, black eyes. His teeth are cracked and yellow, and a greasy, raven beard is the only bit of hair he possessed on his putrid head. He moved slickly, like oil, and his hands rubbed together, over and over and over.

"Yes, Madam?" he drawls in a thick, Russian accent. He draws out each word slow, and soft. The woman smiles pleasantly, her lips stained magenta with a sparkling lipstick. Her teeth are shining white, like the pearls resting in the slope of her neck.

"I do believe my plan is sound." She sighs, bringing an elegantly crafted blue tea-cup to her mouth. She takes a small sip, and places the scolding bottom against the palm of her hand. She watches detachedly as the skin grew red.

"We well enforce it at once, Madam." Atabur laughs, moving in sharp, excited movements. His filthy brown cloaks swish this way and that, disturbed dirt falling to the ground. "Our army will be enthused."

" _My_ army." The woman snaps, teeth clicking with the hard clap of her jaws. She places the cup down with put upon calm, the blister on her hand throbbing. Atabur shrinks into himself, eyes darting everywhere but at the woman. "And stop calling me Madam. I'm not some everyday woman, Atabur. I'm so much _more_." She hisses. Her eyes are an eerie shade of blue, cold shards of frigid, lifeless ice that struck with every glance.

Atabur nods exuberantly, beard wagging. "Apologies, Mad-," Atabur gulps and shakes his head like an animal. "Yseult." He finishes with a grimace.

"There you are." Yseult grins. Her cheeks are stiff, and her eyes manic.

She pops the blister on her hand with a hard press of her thumb.

* * *

Being an Auror at the age of forty-three wasn't hard for Harry Potter, not at all, but he was very, very tired of arresting witches and wizards for racism. It had been 25 of years, a quarter of century, since The Second Wizarding War, and magical folk still clung with tooth and nail to their ridiculous morals of a time long since past.

So it was considerably surprising to be called in on a day off to investigate the devastating deaths of ten wizards.

"Seamus! Oi, what the hell is going on?" Harry demands, swooping out of the Auror's Office fireplace; he's shoving his left arm into his trenchcoat, face contorted with confusion. Seamus, his second in command since Ron retired to running Weasleys' Wizard Wheezies with Fred and Lee, is running his hands through his sandy hair.

"A pub in Upper Flagly was attacked last night! Just up and bloody blew up!" Seamus shook his head, worrying at his wedding ring, as he was wont to do when he was anxious. Harry bit his lip and ran a hand over his face.

"Give me the facts." He asks Seamus simply, hearing the pops of apparition and the roaring of fire as his team arrived.

Seamus nods, focusing quickly. "It wasn't a magical fire is what they're saying, but they smelled muggle gasoline, and there are three witnesses who saw a group of Hoods pouring something around the pub."

Harry's brows furrowed. That was certainly different. "So, you're saying this was an attack on wizards, by muggles?" he inquired incredulously. "There hasn't been anything like that since, what, The Dark Ages? Puritan-Age America? Not since the Statute of Secrecy, surely."

Seamus shrugs, grabbing his cloaks of the back on his desk chair. "We don't know anything for certain if we don't investigate." He says pointedly. Harry nods.

"Right. Oi!" Harry addresses the Office. The five other Aurors of his Team look up, all in various states of undress and wakefulness. "We're off to Upper Flagly in ten. Assumed Muggle-on-Wizard Terrorism."

The team erupts into alarmed conversation, limbs moving in tandem as they pulled on the required armour. Harry pulls out his wand and conjures his Patronus quickly.

"Ginny, there's been an attack. They're targeting Wizarding villages from what I can tell. Be safe. Don't raise a panic, but tell family for now. Love you." He tells the stag firmly, before watching the pearlescent figure jump off into whatever plane it took to Ginny, where she rested at home in Godric's Hollow.

Harry looks to Seamus, who was telling his own patronus, a whimsical fox, to warn Dean and their son at home. Once he was done, they share a dark look.

"Let's move out!"

* * *

"I honestly don't know how you manage in this."

James Potter the Second looks up from his soup, his spoon halfway to his mouth. He scowls and plops the spoon into the bowl messily. "Hey! I like the clutter. Reminds me of the Burrow." The young man explains, ears burning a startling scarlet.

The man who had spoken first stifles a laugh. "Merlin, James, I didn't mean to ruck up your bloomers." The man lets a blinding smile slither onto his face, and he shuffles over through the mess of books, trash, and miscellaneous collectibles, to cuddle into James' side. "I'm sorry, dear; I really didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

James blushes to the auburn roots of his hair, but his scowl softens, and he wraps an arm around the other man. "It's alright, Nic, I'm just moody." James sighs, placing a gentle kiss to the other man's lips. Nic grins into it, and raises a large, nimble hand to run through James' hair.

"I know, Jamie, I know." Nic chuckles as he pulls away. He flips his dark hair out of his dazzling, wide blue eyes and bops James on the nose. "I've got to get ready for work. Don't forget to study."

James scowls and captures one last kiss before Nic tripped out of the living room and into the kitchen, which led, thankfully, to the front door of the flat. "Bye, luv, be careful!" James calls, and Nic replies with something similar before closing the door behind him.

"Is he gone?"

James looks over to see Fred Weasley, another 'the Second', inching into the room apprehensively.

"Don't be such a plonker, Fred, just because he's a Slytherin and dresses up as a bird for a living doesn't mean he's any less of a person, honestly-," James begins through a groan, only for Fred to fall over him dramatically, damn near making the both of them tumble off the sofa.

"I don't care about those things, man! I don't! Nicolas is a righteous bloke! But for Voldie's sake, I have to hear it when you two shag, and I just can't face the man in the morning!" the freckled, dark skinned boy exclaimed, long, scraggily arms waving frantically.

James went a roaring red.

"Why on BLOODY EARTH DID YOU NOT TELL ME THIS BEFORE?" James yelled, pushing his cousin off him, succeeding in spilling his soup and pulling a harsh cry from the other man.

Fred huffed and went identically red, as was the way of being Weasleys, and got up hastily. "I'm not like you, Jamie; I don't go peaking in on a shag every few days! I've got standards." Fred huffed haughtily, brushing himself off and charming away the soup that had gotten on his jumper. James rolled his eyes and adjusted his pajama shirt.

"You're being awfully hypocritical, Freddie, cause if you don't recall, we shared a room at Hogwarts, and sixth year you and Cedra Chang were quite loud." James grumbled, still blushing hotly.

The two men looked at each other a moment, before erupting into loud laughter.

"Oh, Cedra, I'd forgotten all about her-,"

"Walking in on a shag, honestly-,"

"Fucking brilliant we are, mate-,"

James and Fred fell onto the sofa, heaving for air as they calmed down. They were just about to discuss the day's plans, when a corporeal, glowing stallion galloped onto their coffee table.

" _James, dear, there's been an attack on a Wizarding village, be careful and keep an eye open. Fred, contact your sister. Say hi to Nicolas for me. Love you."_ The horse proclaimed in Ginny Weasley's voice. The horse puffed into nothingness, and James and Fred sat there curiously, the mood directly sobered.

"Well, that was unexpected."


End file.
